Babe McCoy On Art "Golden Boy" Aragon

"We've been given trouble by fighters we lose money with, so when a fellow like Aragon comes along, we can tolerate him. But believe me, he gives us plenty of trouble. Art is a boy with alot of confidence. He thinks he's a better fighter then Carter, and a better matchmaker then me. He tells our publicity man how to write his releases and tells the ticket office how to sell tickets. For a big fight, he tells us how to scale the house and how much to advertise."
When Aragon was up at Pop Soper's Ranch near Ojai, California, training for his title fight with Carter in November 1951, he became concerned over the influx of newspapermen coming to see him train. Art, who worries more about how advance ticket sales are progressing then the promoters do, was counting on a capacity crowd for his fight with Carter, and by simple arithmetic he arrived at the conclusion that for every newspaperman to be accommodated, one less ticket could be sold. When a group of newspapermen crowded around him after one of his rare sparring sessions, he said, to no one in particular, "Remind me to call the Olympic in the morning and tell them to cut down on the press pass list."
The booing of the Golden Boy has grown into a tradition. It is his trademark as much as his eye-catching robe. The fight fans boo Aragon for the same reason baseball fans eat hot dogs. It is the customary thing to do.